Atlanta Braves fans collectively held their breath once more on Wednesday night with another starter leaving a game early due to an injury.
As amazing as this season has been for the Atlanta Braves, who just clinched their third straight division title, this year has not been kind to their starting rotation.
We all know about the struggles from injuries and lack of performance, but when Max Fried left the game after the first inning on Monday night with an ankle injury I think I speak for all of Braves country when I say it felt like a gut-punch of all gut punches.
Our one starting pitcher that we can trust right now going into the postseason is Max Fried, and if he had to miss any time it might very well put the nail in the coffin for this team.
Now, the good news is this offense is beyond elite, and they showed that when Fried left the game on Wednesday by scoring 9 runs and picking up the win.
But the injury news is highly concerning to me as Fried is someone who has already been hurt this year and has battled injuries throughout his career.
However, most reports after the game indicated that Fried was removed as a precaution and he is hopeful to start game one of the Wild Card round that starts September 30.
I don’t even want to start and think about who would start game one for the Braves if Fried isn’t healthy.
They’re already likely to have at least two rookies make starts in the postseason with Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright.
Yes, this offense is elite and so is the bullpen. But at some point, the Braves are going to need a starter they can count on to pitch at least 5 or 6 innings.
Fried is the one most likely to do that in the postseason, so let’s all hope this is nothing serious and that he’ll be ready to go by next Wednesday.